Lost Galaxy Redux
by Maiyrhia
Summary: A retelling of Lost Galaxy, my efforts at... improving what I saw as some gaping flaws in the narrative. Major changes to the canon lie within.
1. 01: Quasar Quest, Part 1

**IMPORTANT NOTE** : This story is in canon with my other story, Psycho Rangers: In Space. I advise reading that first.

TL;DR version (spoilers): Psycho Yellow alone manages to survive the events of In Space, finds herself turned good by the energy wave. The Power Rangers find her and she winds up a prisoner on the Astro Megaship at the end of that fic.

* * *

In the time since Zordon's sacrifice had turned the collected forces of evil either to dust or to good, the human race had rapidly recovered. The technology the evil forces had left behind had swiftly been reverse-engineered by the ever-resourceful human race, and before long the giant colony ship Terra Venture was ready to leave to find a new world.

With humanity preparing its first colony ship, Andros had decided to follow the Terra Venture for a little while to make sure it at least started its journey safely. Their morphers were dead, still depowered after Zordon's sacrifice, maybe for good. Nonetheless, Zhane, Ashley and Karone had easily agreed to his suggestion of protecting the colony. The others had decided to stay on Earth after everything they had gone through, but with the Astro Megaship's speed and long-range communications they would hardly be out of contact.

Unfortunately, there was one other resident on the Astro Megaship at the moment. Since finding her alive in the wake of the energy wave, Psycho Yellow had been an unwanted guest. Nobody wanted her there, but equally nobody had been willing to let her loose on an unsuspecting Earth, regardless of her protests of turning good. After everything she had done, they had reluctantly decided to keep her around - and keep an eye on her, at least for now.

With barely a few hours to go until the Terra Venture left Earth forever, the Astro Megaship was running some final systems checks in the Earth's orbit. Nobody on board was expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, and the checks were perfectly normal to make sure the ship was prepared for its journey, and to defend the colony on the off-chance something happened to it.

Andros was alone on the bridge, idly checking systems without paying too much attention, when an alarm blared. He barely had time to look up when the source made itself clear - on the viewscreen a hole opened in space, as if someone had pulled a plug from a huge drain in front of them. He felt the engines surge into reverse, but even DECA's nearly instant reactions were unable to stop the ship in time.

The Astro Megaship shook violently as a wild mess of colours flourished on the viewscreen for several long seconds. It cleared as the doors opened and Karone, Zhane and Ashley ran to join him on the bridge. In front of them was a planet, looking remarkably normal and somewhat similar to Earth, or his own homeworld of KO-35. He felt the engines firing again, DECA bringing them into a safe orbit around the mysterious world.

"What happened?" Ashley asked, putting voice to everyone's confusion.

"I don't know," Andros replied with a shrug. "We just... got dragged through a wormhole of some sort." He glanced at a viewscreen full of scan results, but even without asking he could see that DECA's assessment of what had happened would be no clearer than his own. "DECA, where are we?" he asked instead.

"Unknown. I am trying to calculate our position." DECA was silent for a moment, and a quick glance at the viewscreens showed that she was running scans. "Rangers, I am detecting some strange energy readings on the planet below, with a monster very close by."

Andros frowned. "What kind of energy?"

DECA was silent a moment longer. "One I have never detected before," she replied eventually.

As the former Rangers exchanged worried glances, Alpha looked up from another screen full of scan results. "The wormhole should remain stable for some time," he reported.

Andros nodded, his mind made up. "All right, let's check it out. We need to figure out what brought us here."

Ashley reached instinctively for her wrist, to check the morpher that used to be there. "I'll get the Astro Blasters," she said instead, all of them deliberately not thinking about the monster DECA had detected below.

Andros found his sister blocking his path to the elevator. "Andros, don't even _think_ about leaving me behind," Karone said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

He hesitated, desire to protect his sister warring with the knowledge that she could more than take care of herself. "Of course not," he replied eventually.

They were met in the hangar by Ashley; once she had passed around the Astro Blasters they headed towards the Galaxy Glider, Zhane borrowing the Green and Karone the Pink, to investigate the strange readings DECA had found.

* * *

Once, she had been called Psycho Yellow. That was, in fact, still technically her name, but it scarcely seemed to fit any more. Nonetheless, it was the name they still used to address her - if they called her anything at all. Eventually, reluctantly, the Rangers had decided they could not keep her chained up forever, and so she had found herself left with a small room and mostly ignored. Eavesdropped conversations had revealed they were unwilling to risk letting her leave the ship unguarded, and she could almost understand. _Everyone else would be safe anyway, I only ever wanted Yellow_...

She shook her head to clear it of the thought. Her mind was left a fuzzy mess - her _human_ mind now, thanks to that wave - and the violent urges were gone for good. She could hardly blame the Rangers for their mistrust though, and besides, where would she go? So instead she stayed, a prisoner in all but name, doing her best to avoid the others and be forgotten. The ship's computer DECA was the only one who seemed to pay her any attention - of course she was, Andros had ordered DECA to keep a constant eye on her.

To her surprise, DECA had proved an unlikely ally, easily accepting her reluctance to meet the others and helping her avoid them on the rare occasion she left the room. Usually this was only for food, and with her hearing worse than it used to be, she found herself appreciating the heads-up when everyone else was busy and she could slip to the recreation room and back in peace.

Her hearing was definitely sensitive enough, though, to pick up the sound of a conversation in the hangar, followed by the crash of the door opening, then the quiet sound of the Galaxy Gliders leaving. She waited a few moments longer, but heard only silence. "Where are they all going?" she asked, not really expecting a reply. "What just happened?"

The reply came without hesitation. "The Astro Megaship fell through some kind of spacial anomaly. I detected a monster and a strange energy signal on the planet below, and the others went to investigate."

With nobody left on the ship to avoid, she slowly opened the door to her room and headed towards the hangar curiously. "I wasn't expecting an answer."

"Nobody has forbidden me from telling you," DECA replied as she walked through the ship's corridors.

With only four others living on the ship, there was still one Galaxy Glider - the blue - left. "Guess they forgot about me," she muttered, mostly to herself, as she tried to resist the start of a _really_ bad idea.

"That was your stated goal, Psycho Yellow."

She smiled despite herself, and nodded. For a moment tried to head back to the door, but something she could not quite describe kept her frozen in place. Surely just a _quick_ look wouldn't hurt, she thought. Something she could not quite describe, even to herself, was telling her to go down after the others - just for a moment, just for a look. After another moment's thought, she gave in and threw common sense to one side. "Show me where they went."

DECA displayed the information on a nearby screen. "Andros, Ashley and Zhane will not be pleased if you leave the ship," she warned.

"I know." She waved off the computer's worry. "I won't let them see me. I just have to go down there..."

There was no reply from DECA, and the computer made no attempt to stop her as she launched the blue Galaxy Glider. It only took a brief experimentation to work out how to steer the thing, and she headed down towards the location she had been shown. She was still wondering what she was doing and why, but she really would return before anyone noticed her absence. At least, that was what she told herself.

* * *

With the four Galaxy Gliders parked in a convenient forest clearing, Andros led the way towards the mysterious energy readings DECA had detected. Unfortunately, it was the monster they found first, a tall, blue-scaled creature in somewhat garish red armour, glaring with angry yellow eyes at a group of cowering native villagers. In one hand, he gripped a viciously barbed sword, and with the other he was gesturing towards a large stone with five swords oddly sheathed in it.

There were several smaller creatures surrounding him, mutated hybrids of men and insects. Their bodies were twisted into a cruel mockery of a human's, with arms ending in long, sharp hooks and bulging red compound eyes set in misshapen wasp's heads. They emitted a constant angry buzzing as they swarmed around.

The monster was brandishing his sword at a large group of cowering, helpless natives. "I've had enough," he shouted, clearly angry. "Tell me how to release the Quasar Sabers or I'll destroy your whole planet!"

Only one, an elderly sage, dared to reply. "You'll never release them," he replied, with his voice shaking only a little. "You weren't chosen."

Brave as it was, the reply would be a fatal mistake as the monster raised his sword to strike. "You will pay dearly for such insolence!"

Andros raised his gun to fire, too far away to physically interfere, but before he could shoot a native woman had thrown herself in the way. "Stop! Don't touch him."

The monster looked unimpressed. "And who's going to stop me?"

Three humans in some sort of military uniform ran to stand near the woman. One of them, presumably the leader, spoke calmly, his gun aimed at the monster. "All of us, that's who."

"Just the four of you?" The monster began to laugh derisively.

Andros charged, knowing the other three would be right behind him. "Eight of us." There would be time for introductions later - after the monster was dealt with.

The monster looked between the two groups for a moment, then gave a gesture to the creatures surrounding him. "Stingwingers, attack!"

The mutant insect-things moved at his command, and Andros barely had time for a single shot before the crowd was upon him, and there was no more time for shooting. Across the clearing, he could see the three uniformed humans, two similar-looking men and a woman, swiftly separated by the attacking Stingwingers. There was no time, no chance to help them - the Stingwingers were too fast, too numerous, and it was all he could do to stay away from those curved wrist-blades himself.

* * *

Mike Corbett was in a very similar dilemma. He could see his little brother hitting the ground, his 'borrowed' military uniform's stab-vest the only thing saving his life, and he could hear Kendrix shouting in pain, but before he could think of helping either of them, the monster's barbed sword tore his weapon from his hand, and a fast kick sent him flying through the air.

The monster stood above him, raising that cruel sword for the final blow. "I'm tired of toying with you."

Winded and desperate, Mike reached out blindly, trying to find something, _anything_ , that he could use as a weapon - and his hand closed around the hilt of one of the five Quasar Sabers stuck in the rock. His heart pounding, he pulled the Saber out, and it slid free as easily as if from a perfect sheath.

As the Saber lifted free, its blade glowed with a steady green energy, and the monster stumbled in shock. Mike took advantage of the moment, pushing himself to his feet as the monster raised his own sword to strike. The Quasar Saber met the blow - and easily threw the sword aside, almost guiding Mike's hand as it blew the stunned monster backwards.

Mike stared at the sword in awe, unaware of the shocked murmuring of the natives around him and clueless of the three-thousand-year-old prophecy he had just begun to fulfil. He was joined by Kendrix and two of the others after a moment as the Stingwingers swarmed around them. It took him only a second to recognise Andros and Ashley, two of the former Space Rangers; there was his little brother, fighting back-to-back with the other two who had arrived with Andros and Ashley. He looked back to the Saber in his hand. "Guys..."

The gathering Stingwingers had by this point helped up the monster. It snarled in fury. "Give me that Saber and I won't destroy you!"

Kendrix looked between the monster and the other four Quasar Sabers. "Should we try?" Mike nodded, and to the watching natives' shock the Sabers slid out easily.

Ashley looked at her Saber as a familiar shade of glowing yellow ran down its blade. "Isn't this a bit... Excalibur?"

"Excalibur?" Andros echoed, his tone blank as his own Saber glowed red.

She shook her head. "Old Earth legend. I'll explain later."

Any further conversation was cut forth as the Stingwingers swarmed again, spurred by the monster to reclaim the Sabers for him.

* * *

The most convenient parking space for the Blue Galaxy Glider turned out to be where the other four had left theirs, and she left the fifth beside the others. Trying her best to be quiet, she headed towards where she had seen them fighting, only intending to watch.

The loss of her evil instincts was still something she was adjusting to, and it was a genuine surprise to realise she simply couldn't stand back and watch the former Power Rangers be destroyed by the monster. Still unnoticed, she ducked behind a bush and took stock of the situation. Everyone looked too busy to recognise her, and she could see a lone sword rather oddly stuck in a block of stone nearby. Lacking any better ideas for a weapon, she sprinted out of cover, throwing a group of Stingwingers out of the way before they noticed her.

As she ran, she kept a close eye on the Rangers she knew, but they were too far away and had their backs turned. Before she could reach the sword, though, a large group of the Stingwingers blocked her way. Apparently the sword was something important, then.

She fought as best she could, but outnumbered seven to one and without a weapon she stood no chance - until two of them were struck down in a single blow. Thankfully, it was someone she had never seen before, a woman who gave her a friendly smile as they fought together.

The sword slipped easily from the stone as she pulled, not suspecting for a moment the significance of what was she had done. She spun, swinging the sword and slicing one of the Stingwingers clean in half. Her reflexes were slower than they had been before the energy wave changed her, and it was only the friendly stranger's quick parry that saved her from another's attack. As they faced the remaining four Stingwingers, she made a mental note to practice fighting and get used to her slower, more sluggish reflexes.

Suddenly the Stingwingers retreated from her, called back from by their frustrated master. He raised his sword as it began glowing and sparking with his power. "If I can't have the Sabers, then no-one will!" The sword fell, stabbing straight down into the planet's surface. Nothing happened for a second as the sparking energy spread out into the soil - then in its wake the soil turned to stone.

* * *

Mike stumbled backwards, away from the growing circle, as the monster laughed. He was joined by one of the others who had arrived earlier - someone he very abruptly recognised as Andros, the former Red Space Ranger. "Who took the last Quasar Saber?"

Mike looked back at the now-empty stone. "I didn't see." He stepped backwards, hoping against hope that Andros had a way off the planet. "We have to go."

Andros nodded, spurred into action. "Run!" he shouted, loud enough to be heard by the others. "With us, back to the Galaxy Gliders!"

"Leo, Kendrix, Maya! This way!" He saw his brother and Kendrix running, following the former Yellow Space Ranger through the forest, but Maya had fallen behind trying to help an injured civilian. He watched, horrified and unable to help, as the awful stone circle spread outwards, swallowing both Maya and the stumbling man in its wake. Within moments they too had been turned to stone, and Mike could do nothing but run after the others.

They ran, outpacing the stone wave as they went, only to skid to a halt as the monster teleported in front of them, surrounded by his Stingwingers. He laughed in derision and raised his sword as it sparked again with the same evil energy as before. "Did you really believe you could run away from me? Never!" The sword fell again, slamming into the ground - only this time instead of turning to stone, the ground split wide open into a huge chasm.

The others managed to throw themselves out of the way, but as Mike tried to jump aside the ground crumbled beneath him, and he could barely grab a small rocky outcrop as he fell.

"Mike!" His brother was stretching out a hand, just out of reach. "Mike, give me your hand!"

He tried to stretch up, but all he achieved was losing his fragile grip and slipping even further from Leo. "I can't hold on," he gasped, trying and failing to find any kind of toehold.

Leo tried to reach lower, desperate and frantic. "Give me your hand!" The crumbling rock sent a shower of small fragments tumbling down into the foggy depths. "You can do it!"

At that moment, looking up at his brother's pleading face, his hand too far out of reach, Mike knew there was no chance. He reached up with the Quasar Saber instead - the only hope left was that maybe it could be saved before he fell. "Leo, take the Saber."

Leo ignored it. "Your hand," he begged.

Mike's hand was starting to cramp painfully, and he forced himself to try to ignore it. "I can't hold on."

"Don't give up!" Leo found a slightly better position, managing to reach down a little further, still stretching to take his brother's hand.

It was not enough, and Mike knew that. "Take it!"

"I can't." Desperation, fear, and a suddenly visible feeling of inadequacy were clear on Leo's face as he hesitated.

"Of course you can." Mike pushed aside the painful cramp, trying to be encouraging in what he knew were his last moments. "You have to."

Leo hesitated, and nodded. "Okay," he said quietly, with clear reluctance. "I'll try." He reached out, barely managing to grab the Quasar Saber. The moment it was safe, his focus turned back to his brother. "Got it! Mike, you can't let go."

Mike's grip slipped again, and he knew he was out of time. He remembered the horrible things he had said when he had discovered his little brother stowing away on the Terra Venture, and tried desperately to hold on for just a few moments long - long enough to fix what he had done. "It's okay, you can carry on for me. You can do it. I've always been so proud of you Leo, I always will be."

His fingers slipped for the last time, and he fell screaming his brother's name as the fog swallowed him in its murky depths. The last thing he saw was the chasm closing above him.

 _Author's Note: I love reviewers._


	2. 02: Quasar Quest, Part 2

**Author's Note** : It only just occurred to me that there are no people of colour on this team. I had not considered that, and it is in no way deliberate, however I feel I owe an apology for my blindness in this matter. I am sorry, and I promise to do better in future.

* * *

 **Quasar Quest, Part 2**

Rage, grief and despair battled for control as Leo stared at the ground where his brother had fallen - gone, now, without a trace. He only faintly heard the monster's maniacal laughter, as he slowly raised his brother's Quasar Saber.

The monster sneered in derision. "Oh, does baby brother want a piece of me too?" It was taunting him, visibly amused. "Well, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?"

Mike's Quasar Saber started to glow in Leo's hands, the same rich green it had for its chosen owner. The glow spread quickly, until the entire blade was glowing green, bright enough it was hard to look directly at it. He could see Kendrix, Andros and Ashley standing beside him, their blades glowing pink, red and yellow - and, when he turned his head, he could see a stranger standing a few paces further back, holding a blue-glowing Saber.

The monster was staring in stunned disbelief. "What? The Quasar Sabers are more powerful than I thought..."

Leo looked at the others with renewed determination, and nodded. Acting on instinct, and seeing the others copying his movement, he held the Quasar Saber up to the sky - and flinched as lightning struck the blade. It blew through him, blinding him for a moment. He barely had time to wonder at the fact that it was completely painless when his vision cleared, and he realised he was completely _unharmed_ as well. More than that, in fact, he felt stronger than ever - and as he looked down at himself he saw he was clad in the same green as the blade had glowed. The Quasar Saber, he was slowly realising, had turned him into a _Power Ranger_.

The monster was momentarily frozen, and Leo used the brief chance to take in the new revelation. The Ranger suits were like none he'd seen before, with white chests emblazoned with a bold black zig-zag design, and white gloves and boots bearing a matching pattern. Whatever the strange swords were, their power was something entirely new. As the others beside him drew the same conclusion as he had - Andros and Ashley briefly celebrating with obvious joy in red and yellow - the monster had recovered from his shock. "Silly costumes won't help against my power."

Leo raised his brother's Quasar Saber once again, this time into a fighting stance. "Why don't we just find out about that?" He saw the others doing the same. "All right guys, this one's for Mike."

The monster gestured with his sword."Stingwingers, destroy them!"

The Stingwingers charged, as did the new Power Rangers, and with their enhanced speed, strength and agility, the mutated insects were much less of a threat. There were more of them by the second, though - dozens and dozens of the creatures were running from the forest at the monster's call and flying down from above on buzzing wings, and the Rangers quickly found themselves separated.

Leo could see Kendrix, now in pink, dispatching four Stingwingers in as many seconds. There was no time to admire her handiwork, as he found himself charged by Furio while the Stingwingers swarmed the others. That was fine as far as he was concerned; he _wanted_ to fight the monster alone. And with the increased strength he could feel flowing into him, he might just have a chance of winning.

The monster swiped at him, but it was a simple matter now to flip over the attack. The monster was too fast, though, blocking Leo's Saber-thrust and kicking him backwards. Leo recovered quickly, swinging the Saber again, but the monster ducked under the attack and swiped his legs out from under him.

Leo had expected that to be the end of the fight, but he managed to turn the fall into a spin and land on his feet. There was no time to marvel at his newfound agility - he jumped high before the monster could react, stabbing down at him from above. This attack landed home, and Leo sprang off a nearby tree, launching himself back at the monster to follow up with a second strike. The monster was stronger and faster, and Leo's attack was met with a punch in the stomach - and he was sent sprawling painfully to the ground.

Leo forced himself back to his feet, quickly recovering from the punch. "Have you had enough?"

"I've had enough all right. Enough of you!" The monster raised his left hand, sparking with red and yellow lightning, and blasted Leo back through the forest. As Leo struggled to rise, clutching his chest in pain, the monster advanced on him angrily. "You have no idea who you're messing with. I am Furio, and I do not lose."

Instinct spoke to Leo, words whispering in his mind as the Quasar Saber's blade glowed bright green. "Quasar Saber, energise!" Swirling tendrils of the same green energy swooped around him as he slowly swung it in a wide circle. He grasped the Saber in both hands, holding it ready to strike as tendrils spiralled into the blade until the entire length was glowing brighter than ever before.

The monster - Furio - ran to attack, and Leo swung the Saber. It blew through his defence with ease and hit him hard in the chest. The blinding explosion blew Leo backwards; he barely managed to turn his stumbling landing into what he hoped looked like a steady pose worthy of a Power Ranger as he saw Furio fall, defeated.

"Oh no!" Kendrix's shout drew their attention, and they followed her pointing finger to see the rapidly approaching stone circle. Without Furio holding it back, it was fast catching up to them again. "It's here already!"

Leo turned back to face Furio as the monster struggled to rise. Thoughts of Mike filled his mind, and he raised his brother's Quasar Saber ready to fight. "You guys go. I'll hold off the Stingwingers."

A flash of pain entered Andros's voice as he realised Leo's true motivation. "I know what it's like to lose a sibling. But you can't help him now, we have to _go_."

"I can hold them off!"

Andros shook his head, blocking Leo's path. "We need you, alive. Throwing your life away here won't help." He grabbed the Green Ranger's arm as the stone almost brushed their feet, pulling him after the others. "Come on! We'll get another chance to fight him, I promise."

Leo let himself be pulled reluctantly, and the two ran after the others to the clearing where the Galaxy Gliders were still waiting.

Andros froze momentarily when he saw the _five_ Galaxy Gliders. There was only one person who could have piloted the blue, and he spun to face the Blue Ranger as he put the pieces together. "You! How did you-"

"Andros!" Ashley's shout interrupted his question and he jumped onto the red Galaxy Glider, pulling Leo behind him as the stone wave caught up to them. They took off with only moments to spare, Furio's angry shout echoing behind them as the forest below turned to stone, leaving only the monster and the Stingwingers still alive in its wake.

* * *

Alpha was practically _vibrating_ with excitement as they entered the Megaship's control room. "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi, I can't believe it! You're Power Rangers again!"

Andros smiled in reply. "DECA, time to go." He took the controls as the engines fired, steering the Megaship back towards the wormhole it had fallen through.

Alpha's excitement was suddenly replaced with panic. "Oh no!" He turned from the screen he had been inspecting. "The portal's closing!" he announced, his words leaving horror in their wake.

Andros barely hesitated. "Hang onto something," he told the others with quiet confidence, speeding the Astro Megaship towards the shrinking opening. "We can make it." With him at the controls, the ship did indeed make it through the closing wormhole, shaking enough to make them stumble but with minimal damage as it arrived back where it had come from, near the planet Earth.

"What are these Quasar Sabers anyway?" Leo held his up as he wondered aloud. "The natives seemed pretty surprised to see us pulling them out."

It was DECA who replied. "Legend says the five Quasar Sabers were buried in the stone on the planet Mirinoi three thousand years ago; apparently, only those destined can draw them out. Many warriors travelled to Mirinoi to try this, without success."

Silence followed as they absorbed that news. Leo frowned at the computer's words. "So we were... what, chosen?"

"Chosen for what?" Andros started to pace. "Why now? If the legend's true, what happened to mean the Power Rangers are needed now?"

The question was met by silence as the group exchanged shrugs - and slowly turned to look at the Blue Ranger, the only one not to remove their helmet. Andros's eyes narrowed, reminded of his realisation on the planet's surface. "Take it off. I know who you are."

Kendrix and Leo looked between the expressionless Blue Ranger as she obeyed the order with visible reluctance, and Zhane, Andros and Ashley, who were staring at her aghast. It was Kendrix who spoke, after several awkward seconds. "What's wrong, you guys?"

The awkward silence stretched out for a few more seconds before Ashley replied, not taking her eyes off the Blue Ranger for an instant. "Kendrix, that's _Psycho Yellow_."

"The Psycho Rangers were created only to destroy us, and they nearly succeeded," Andros explained briefly. "She _says_ she turned good in Zordon's energy wave."

Karone had stayed quiet until now, but the former Princess of Evil stepped forward, putting a gentle hand on her brother's arm. "Andros..."

Leo frowned at the Red Ranger's explanation. "I thought the energy wave turned everything good, or to dust?" Already knowing the answer, he pushed forward. "Anyway, if DECA's right about that legend, doesn't that mean she's destined to get these powers? I saw her pull the Saber out, she can't be evil."

"Andros," Karone repeated, unable to look at the Blue Ranger. "You know he's right."

Andros and Ashley exchanged unhappy looks, both reliving the past and neither quite able to move on from it.

The awkward silence was broken by Kendrix. "So... what's your name?"

"Besides Psycho Yellow?" She shrugged slightly, unable to meet anyone's eyes and especially trying to avoid looking at Karone. "I was never given one."

Kendrix looked at the veteran Rangers in disbelief. "Seriously? It's been how long, and we're still calling her Psycho Yellow?" She glanced back at the uncomfortable Blue Ranger. "It doesn't exactly fit any more, and we can't just say 'Oi you' forever either."

Being treated in any way other than open mistrust was a new experience, and not one she was entirely sure how to deal with. Hesitantly she asked, "Do you have any ideas, then?"

Kendrix was thoughtful for a minute. "Well, given what you've been through, what about Hope?" She was met with a confused shrug by the Blue Ranger, an awkward cough by Karone, and stony silence by everyone else. She decided to ignore them for now. "Well, I think it fits."

Andros turned to her with the obvious question. "Why did you follow us to Mirinoi?"

She shrugged slightly. "I couldn't help it."

"You couldn't help it," Ashley repeated sceptically.

"I couldn't!" She was suddenly defensive, remembering exactly how much trouble she might be in. "I don't know how to explain it, I just... had to get down there."

Andros shook his head. "DECA, why didn't you stop her?"

"I did try to discourage her, but you didn't order the doors locked."

Andros sighed, clearly wishing he had done exactly that.

Hesitantly, the newly-named Hope indicated towards Leo. "Anyway, wasn't I apparently destined to do this?"

The response did not go over well with Ashley. "You weren't destined for anything!"

Before the anger could continue to rise, Kendrix physically put herself between them. "Hey, I saw on the news what the energy wave did to the evil monsters." She deliberately looked towards Karone by way of example, and waited for the atmosphere in the room to grow unbearably awkward before pressing her point. "And last I heard, even Rita Repulsa herself was starting to teach people how to use sorcery for good. People are trusting her, why not Hope here?"

The argument was hard to deny, and as yet another awkward silence stretched on Leo looked at his brother's Quasar Saber with regret. He was never supposed to get the powers in the first place, and here he was, a stowaway and now an imposter in Mike's place. To make matters worse, it seemed he was now part of the most dysfunctional team in the galaxy. "This is for you, Mike," he muttered, seriously starting to doubt the team he had found himself on. How would Mike have reacted? It was hard to believe his brother was really _gone_.

Leo took a moment to take a proper look at the team; the day had been so busy he had barely had a chance to pause since leaving Earth. He looked first at Andros, a famous face he now knew well after the Space Rangers had revealed themselves to the world. Was it really only months ago? He idly found himself wondering whether the Red Ranger's blonde-streaked hair was natural or bleached; there was certainly no sign of roots growing through. He thought for a moment, before shaking his head slightly and giving up on the question. Andros was not from Earth; who could guess what the genetics of the KO-35 natives were like?

Ashley, standing beside Andros, was as recognisable as he was. The Yellow Space Ranger, now back in yellow, standing beside her boyfriend with a general air of understandable anger. He only knew a small amount of what had happened with the Psycho Rangers, really only what had made it to the news, but he remembered hearing that she had at one point been kidnapped by her counterpart. What had happened was really not his business, and it was certainly not his place to ask. Looking past what he knew about Ashley, though, Leo found himself struck by how much she looked like a normal nineteen-year-old about to enter college - not fighting as a Power Ranger yet again.

The third point of the awkward triangle stood at the other side of the bridge, as far away from Andros and Ashley as she could get. It was almost hard to believe that she had been one of the vicious monsters he had seen taking down the Power Rangers on the news, and yet she had not denied her past when questioned. He noticed that while she avoided meeting anyone's eyes, she did not look at Ashley at all. Giving her a closer look, Leo realised that she looked only a few years older than Ashley did, and perfectly human - although apparently that was now exactly what she was. The thing that most struck him, though, was how _lost_ she looked; while the former Space Rangers looked perfectly at home in the new Ranger suits, she looked uncomfortable and totally out of place.

Leo's eyes moved to Kendrix, who was already busy looking at a console readout in fascination. She looked perfectly at home in the Pink Ranger suit, with blonde hair pulled back into a smart ponytail and a friendly smile that had never once faltered. If he had not seen her fighting, he might have underestimated her. He found himself wondering how many monsters would make that mistake.

He caught sight of himself in a reflection on a console, and had to stop and wonder at how much had happened today. Far from the stowaway he had been this morning, he had somehow found himself as the Green Power Ranger. He brushed his hair back out of his eyes, and for a moment almost saw Mike's reflection staring back at him from the console. Thinking about his brother, who should have been the one wearing the green suit, was too painful, and Leo looked away quickly.

There were two others on the bridge, and of course Leo recognised them both instantly. Zhane, the former Silver Space Ranger, was standing close by Andros. He exuded an easy confidence, and even having just met him, Leo was sure that Zhane was somebody hard to dislike. For a moment, he wondered about Zhane's hair, which was so light it was almost as silver as the jacket he wore, but remembered that, like Andros, he was not from Earth and put the thought from his mind.

The last person on the bridge was Karone, Andros's sister. Leo knew from the news that she had been Astronema, the villainous leader of the invasion a few months ago, but somehow had been turned to good by that strange wave. She stood quietly to one side, looking as though she had a lot on her mind. He looked at her; as Astronema she had worn black and silver leathers, and a dazzling array of coloured hair, but as Karone she wore a purple-themed version of the uniform the former Space Rangers wore, her hair a perfectly natural shoulder-length brown.

Finally, the silence came to an end as Andros changed the subject from the argument he had lost, and turned to Leo and Kendrix. "Who are you two anyway?"

Kendrix was the first to reply. "Kendrix Morgan. I'm one of Terra Venture's science officers."

Leo hesitated over how to reply, but soon decided honesty was unlikely to hurt now. "Well... I was a stowaway. Long story short, I wound up 'borrowing' a guard uniform. ... Then I found myself dragged along to a training exercise on the Moon."

Kendrix picked up the story from there. "Some kind of wormhole opened up, and a woman from Mirinoi fell through with Stingwingers chasing her. After we fought them off, she ran back through it with Leo, Mike and I."

"I saw her get turned to stone with everything else back there," Leo said quietly.

"We'll find a way to help them, one day," Kendrix promised with a clearly forced smile.

Leo nodded, trying to believe it, and turned back to Andros. "You know what happened after that."

Andros frowned thoughtfully. "It sounds like you ran through something like the wormhole we flew through. It just opened in front of the Astro Megaship before we could avoid it."

"Do you know what caused them?"

Andros shook his head. "DECA?"

"It is impossible to say at this point," the computer replied.

"Someone wanted us to be Power Rangers," Ashley said. "Specifically us five, but who?"

Andros gave the new Blue Ranger a sharp look. "And why?"

The new Rangers' clueless speculation was interrupted as, on the viewscreen, they saw the Terra Venture's thrusters fire for the first time. Slowly at first, the giant colony started to move on the first steps of its new journey to find a new world. The Astro Megaship, piloted by DECA, headed back into the docking bay as the colony started to pick up speed.

* * *

Quite some distance away from the colony's grand adventure lay the _Scorpion Stinger_. It was here that Furio had returned to after he left Mirinoi, and now he stood on the bridge. Behind him, on a stone throne, sat the warlord Scorpius, a huge, hideous beast of an insect. At first glance, perhaps, Scorpius might look so large as to be effectively useless, but Furio had seen those six powerful legs in action more than once, tearing apart some hapless minion that had disappointed him.

"Furio!" Scorpius's voice was a low growl, and always seemed to bear a threatening note. "What is our status?"

Furio turned to face him. "We have passed through the portal, Scorpius," he reported.

He could see his face reflected in the insect's large black eyes as he replied, a note of anger in his voice. "Then you had best begin your duty. Get me the Quasar Sabers, and destroy those who've taken them from me."

Furio gave a quick bow. "It will be done." He turned to leave, knowing not to upset his master by waiting around when he had been given a clear order.

Behind him, he heard a quiet response from Scorpius. He got the feeling he was meant to hear warlord's muttered threat, "It had better."


End file.
